Arkansas falls in SEC Tournament opener

BY ANDRES FOCIL

HOOVER, Ala. — Adam Frazier had three hits, while Wes Rea hit a three-run home run to lead Mississippi State to a 9-1 win over Arkansas on Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the SEC Tournament at Regions Park. Arkansas drops to 39-18 on the season, while Mississippi State improves to 35-21. Matt Vinson had a pair of hits and drove in a run to lead the Razorbacks at the plate. Bo Bigham, Tim Carver, Dominic Ficociello, Jacob Mahan and John Clay Reeves each had one hit. Matt Reynolds reached base for the 40th straight game after getting hit by a pitch in the first inning. Frazier had a game-high three hits for the Bulldogs. Rea drove in three runs, all coming on a three-run homer in the second inning. Demarcus Henderson had two hits and scored twice, while Sam Frost drove in two runs. Brandon Woodruff earned the win on the mound for the Bulldogs. Woodruff threw five scoreless innings and struck out five. Jonathan Holder picked up his seventh save of the season after tossing 1.2 hiteless innings with a strikeout. Arkansas starter Ryne Stanek took the loss after giving up three runs on four hits and striking out seven in 5.2 innings. Mississippi State struck first, scoring three times in the top of the second. Hunter Renfroe drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to third on a one-out single by Henderson, who took second on the throw to third. Rea then hit a three-run homer over the wall in left field to put the Bulldogs in front 3-0. The Razorbacks had a chance to cut into the MSU lead in the home half of the third. With one out, Carver doubled down the left field line. Jimmy Bosco was hit by a pitch and Brian Anderson walked with two outs to load the bases. Arkansas was unable to get any runners home after Derrick Bleeker struck out swinging to end the inning. Arkansas got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Bigham doubled down the left field line and then advanced to third after an infield single off the bat of Reeves. Vinson then came through with a RBI single to right field, scoring Bigham to cut the lead to 3-1. The Razorbacks put the tying runs on base in the eighth, but were unable to plate any runs. With one out, Mahan placed a double down the right field line and a walk to Bigham put runners on first and second with one out. However, Michael Gunn flied out to left and Vinson struck out swinging to end the threat. Mississippi State brought home six runs in the top of the ninth with all six runs scoring with two outs. A passed ball scored Matthew Britton with the first run of the inning. A throwing error by Anderson at third on a ball hit by Mitch Slauter allowed two more runs to score. Frost then singled to right-center field, scoring a pair of runs. The Razorbacks attempted to throw Frost out at first, but the throw by Ficociello was wild, allowing another run to score and putting the Bulldogs up 9-1. The Razorbacks are back in action on Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. as they face Ole Miss in an elimination game. The Rebels dropped a 2-0 decision to Kentucky in the first game on Tuesday. Wednesday’s game will be televised by SportSouth and also available on Fox Sports Southwest in Northwest Arkansas.